Wellington quarterback Klark Ashmore picks up yardage in a 56-20 win against Sudan on Friday in a Class 1A Division II state quarterfinal. Ashmore will lead the Skyrockets against Munday in a semifinal Friday pitting a pair of 13-0 teams.

Wellington junior Klark Ashmore will be looked at statewide as the other quarterback Friday night against the Munday Moguls in a Class 1A Division II football state semifinal.

Most any quarterback in the state would be standing in Ashmore’s cleats.

That’s because of Munday quarterback Dee Paul. The senior has run for 1,510 yards and 27 touchdowns, passed for 1,521 yards and 22 touchdowns, and has three Division I offers from Big 12 programs, Munday coach Patrick Corcoran said.

But around Wellington, and places like Bovina, Springlake-Earth and Sudan, Ashmore is the quarterback.

“Don’t know where we’d be without Klark,” said Wellington senior Marcus Garcia, a two-way starting lineman. “He’s such a big part of our team.”

“He’s a great quarterback,” said Wellington senior Chris Rodriguez, a two-way starter at tight end and defensive end. “If we need a ball thrown to anybody, he can get it to him. And then he can run, too. He’s really good in the huddle when things are down and out at giving speeches to get us going.”

“Klark is the center point,” said Wellington head coach Wade Williams, whose team is 13-0 this season and 31-1 in its last 32 games. “He makes everything go. Not only on offense, but on defense as well. I’ve said this many times throughout the year, but he is a coach on the field. He may know the offense and defense better than most of us coaches.”

Ashmore will play in his 39th varsity game for against Munday, another 13-0 team.

Ashmore started his string of consecutive starts in the Skyrockets defensive secondary as a freshman for all 11 games.

The 6-foot, 180-pounder, however, was a Skyrocket long before his freshman season.

“Football is such a big part of the community here in Wellington,” Ashmore said. “Growing up, my dad (Kurt) was the head football coach here. I’ve been a Wellington Skyrocket as long as I can remember. I was a ballboy. I was on the sideline. Just the whole shebang. I would even walk through the pep rallies.

“Being a Wellington football player has meant so much to me, my family and the community. It’s a big deal around here, and we take pride in it. I love being out there every Friday night winning games.”

Ashmore will play a key role in the fortunes of Wellington’s attempt to hurdle Munday, which a year ago eliminated the previously unbeaten Skyrockets, 66-22, in this same round.

Ashmore played the state semifinal game with a broken right wrist, his fourth game of the year playing injured. He spent the four months following the game in a cast.

“Playing with a broken wrist last year I felt kind of defenseless out there,” Ashmore said. “I was doing all I could. But I couldn’t do much through the air with the broken wrist.

“I was in that cast for four months and didn’t play basketball. When I started feeling comfortable was probably during 7-on-7 in the summer. I really didn’t get going until then.”

Proof of Ashmore’s accuracy throwing can be argued with his stats. Ashmore has completed 153 of 229 passes (66.8 percent) for 2,070 yards and 34 touchdowns, with only four interceptions. Plus, he has run for 380 yards and scored nine TDs.

“Klark can make adjustments during the game that we may not see,” Williams said. “Offensively, he can tell everybody what to do, where to block and where to go. That’s huge. He’s a coach’s kid and knows how it works.

“Klark will put in the extra time. He is the kind of kid when we finish practice he’s out there throwing and working with receivers on specific routes that we are doing that week.”

The loss to Munday last year has been source of motivation for Ashmore and his teammates since that game ended.

“We never really have been beaten like that,” Ashmore said. “So just that feeling was just pretty bad. We didn’t enjoy that. Like Coach Williams said, we took last year as motivation in the offseason to get prepared for this season. We use it as motivation. It left a bad taste in our mouths.”

Wellington’s motivation during the playoffs has been like seeing the Dallas Cowboys wear a star on the side of their helmets. The Skyrockets are focused, judging by their playoff scores: a 56-20 win against Bovina in area, a 47-13 win against Springlake-Earth in regionals and a 56-20 win against Sudan in the quarterfinals last week.

Against Springlake-Earth, Ashmore started the ball rolling early not with a pass but by returning an interception for a touchdown.

“If ever there was a kid called a ballhawk on defense, he’s a ballhawk,” Williams said. “We were looking for something to happen (early against S-E), and there he goes off and running.”

Ashmore said he knows Munday is talented.

“But we feel like we match up better this year than last year,” Ashmore said. “We are just going to play our hearts out.”

The majority of the eyes in the stands Friday will be looking at Munday’s No. 10 quarterback Dee Paul, that D-I recruit.

Ashmore hopes at the end of the game those eyes will have noticed Wellington’s No. 9.